Monday, July 25, 2011

Be a Pro mode returns in NHL 12 with a host of new features. In this installment, a key feature is to earn your ice time. Your coach will assign tasks for every shift that you play to help the team out. The more tasks that you complete the more trust you will earn from your coach which will lead to additional ice team. Advance from a 4th liner playing 5 minutes a game to a 1st liner playing 17-20 minutes a game.

Ever dream of having an entire Junior’s career before being your career as an NHLer? In NHL 12, you will be able to do just that. In prior years, you were only offered an option to play in the Memorial Cup Playoffs, however in NHL 12 you will be able to play through an entire 4 year CHL career before being placed in the NHL Entry Draft. Play well and rise through the rankings in hopes of being drafted #1 in the NHL.
Monday, July 25, 2011
By Andy Nighthorse

Be A Pro - Revamped
Be a Pro mode returns in NHL 12 with a host of new features. In this installment, a key feature is to earn your ice time. Your coach will assign tasks for every shift that you play to help the team out. The more tasks that you complete the more trust you will earn from your coach which will lead to additional ice team. Advance from a 4th liner playing 5 minutes a game to a 1st liner playing 17-20 minutes a game.
Ever dream of having an entire Junior’s career before being your career as an NHLer? In NHL 12, you will be able to do just that. In prior years, you were only offered an option to play in the Memorial Cup Playoffs, however in NHL 12 you will be able to play through an entire 4 year CHL career before being placed in the NHL Entry Draft. Play well and rise through the rankings in hopes of being drafted #1 in the NHL.

New this year is “Anticipation A.I.” No longer will players wait until an action occurs before reacting on the ice. For example, when a puck is going to be retrieved easily by a defenseman, a superstar like Alexander Ovechkin will begin his turn up ice to get in a lane for a breakout pass. Previously, only would the actual retrieval of the puck from the defenseman then trigger Ovechkin to turn and head up ice. This will lead to overall smoother gameplay and a more realistic hockey experience.

Anticipation A.I.

NHL 12 Full Contacts Physics Engine
Improving upon NHL 11’s physics system is this year’s full contact physics engine. Prepare for players to be checked through the glass, hit into the benches, goalies knocked over, and nets knocked off their moorings. Size and strength will be major factors in a lot of these interactions and bigger, stronger players will be able to dominate other smaller opponents in the physical game. Puck physics have also improved which will create a more realistic experience.

Dynamic Goalies

For the first time this year, goalies will be live just as players. Goalies can now be knocked over and will react with players on the ice such as battling through screens to make saves. How many times as a goalie have you wanted to thrown down like an enforcer? Prepare for battle this year as goalie verse goalie and goalie verse player fights have been introduced.
Signature Traits
In addition to Anticipation A.I., players will also play as their real life counter parts. Ranging from dump & chase grinders to one time specialists to net agitators, prepare for the most realistic experience playing with or against your favorite players. Tomas Holmstrom will crowd the crease, Steven Stamkos will go down to one knee on one-timers, and the Sedin’s will play a cycle game to set up scoring chances. Goalie personalities will also be noticeable with goalies such as Tim Thomas & Martin Brodeur coming out of the crease to play the angles while more conservative goalies like Henrik Lundqvist will play further back in the net and rely on reaction speed.
New Presentation/ Action Tracker

Presentation has been overhauled in NHL 12 and the new Action Tracker is a major integration. Recording everything from where you shoot to what your face off percentage is in your defensive zone, the new Action Tracker has got you covered. Replay any moment from the game by accessing this feature & reliving a quick clip of the moment.
Winter Classic

The NHL Winter Classic is finally here. Experience the thrill one of the most exciting games of the year by participating in the Winter Classic.

Gameplay - 9.0
Old World Blues brings some new elements to the table such as the Sneaking suit and the emitter gun, but for the most part it is the same gameplay found in Fallout: New Vegas - which isn’t a bad thing! Players will find themselves scavenging, picking locks, hacking computers, and fighting a few new enemies unique to the Big MT. There are some new simulation type activities that require you to use some of the equipment found for your mission, but nothing as tedious as the radio collars found in the Dead Money DLC. You will also be attacked by some new enemies, such as skeletons in space suits, robotic scorpions, cybernetic dogs, and more. If you explore enough of the Big MT you may even find some interesting holotapes which give some insight on the Big MT as well as it’s aggressive inhabitants.

Story – 9.0
Old World Blues begins much like most Fallout DLCs of the past, a radio transmission is intercepted, the courier finds the source location, and something crazy happens to only the courier while the companions AIs get away without a scratch. This time the courier is led to a creepy drive-in theater where, at 12 o’clock each night, a movie of an eyeball plays on its screen. Of course the courier ends up tinkering with something that shouldn’t have been tinkered with and ends up passing out, and waking up in a new area - The Big MT. Here the courier is surrounded by robots unlike any others in the Mojave. These robots make up “The Think Tank” and are former scientists of the Big MT that have long ago replaced their bodies with SCIENCE! Unfortunately, these robot scientists have also taken the liberty to replace some of the couriers body parts with mechanics as well, one such body part being the brain. Unfortunately the couriers brain has been stolen by an evil robot scientist, Dr. Mobius! This places the courier in the middle of a war between The Think Tank and Dr. Mobious. To retrieve the brain the courier needs to explore the Big MTs many scientific labs to collect three pieces of equipment, a sneaking suit with an AI built in, an antenna, and a emitter gun, to take down Dr. Mobious, get his brain back, and have the Think Tank re-attach it to his body. Though the story of this DLC slightly resembles the helplessness start of Dead Money, it is definitely fun, full of twists, and contains more character development which the first two Fallout: New Vegas DLCs were lacking in. The developers really chose a great style of story telling that reminiscences films from Sci-Fi’s beginning.

Game Modes/Presentation - 9.5
Big MT is, well, BIG. Players will find many new areas to explore for hours of Fallout gameplay. Though most of these areas are scientific labs. If you loved the environments of Fallout: New Vegas, you will not be disappointed. The story is presented brilliantly as well with robots and appliances actually talking and giving side quests that add, not only more game-time but also, backstories for each individual character.

Graphics – 7.0
As expected from a DLC, the graphics of Old World Blues are entirely working off the engine already put in place in Fallout: New Vegas, though I am extremely happy to say that the game did run smoothly with no real clipping or glitches.

Sound - 9.0
Though most of the sound space of the Fallout universe is wind blowing through the wastes, one can not ignore the voice acting for Old World Blues which is nothing short of fantastic. Most of the characters you interact with are robots, but their voices definitely breath life into their mechanical bodies. Each robot has their own personality and the comical way they interact with the courier, and each other, is very entertaining.

Online - N/A

Final Score: 9.0
Old World Blues is definitely worth the $10 for hours of added fun in the wastes.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Gameplay - 9.0The controls for NCAA Football 12 are pretty much exactly the same as in the previous titles, which isn't a bad thing. The controls are simple and intuitive and should be able to be picked up easily by newcomers to the series. Suction tackling is a thing of the past which is a big step forward. Blocking, running, tackling, receiving, etc all look and feel great. The defensive A.I. is a lot more competent this year and on higher difficulties can be a real pain - but this is a good thing; I haven't had one game yet where I won 74-0. The offensive A.I., however, makes some questionable decisions from time to time. I've seen multiple instances where quarterbacks throw the ball away while under minimal to no pressure and I've had coaches in Road to Glory call running plays while we were down by a touchdown in our own territory with no timeouts left and less than a minute remaining. These minor issues aside, the overall gameplay is superb.Game Modes/Presentation - 9.0There is no shortage of things to do in NCAA Football 12, although most are just different ways of enjoying the core football gameplay (obviously). Coach Mode, which lets you choose which plays the team of your choice will run while you watch the end result, is fun but would be better if you could coach against a friend instead of the A.I. The two main returning modes are pretty much the same as in the past but offer some new additions. Dynasty introduces the new Coaching Carousel which allows you to step in as an offensive or defensive coordinator and control one side of the game in hopes of eventually landing a job as a head coach. Road to Glory now allows you to play both sides of the field during an entire high school season while you get recruited separately based on your performance of both. There is definitely fun to be had regardless of which mode(s) you choose to play. NCAA really stepped up the presentation this year by incorporating the unique, real-life pre-game traditions and entrances for certain teams. The pre-game presentations for Bowl Games are also well done, which is more than I can say about the post-game celebrations. The replays are awesome at first but quickly become annoying since they pretty much pop up after every first down.Graphics - 8.5The graphics look great this year and especially shine through in the replays, where the 'broadcast camera' captures the character models and new 3-D grass perfectly. Crowds & background objects (such as trees), however, seem static and lifeless. The crowd can be heard cheering and chanting but almost appear to be standing motionless pre-snap. Sound - 8.0Kirk Herbstreit and Brad Nessler are back in the booth again and although the commentary feels stale and outdated they get the job done. The sounds of the cheering from the crowd are pretty good but not excellent. The on-the-field sounds have little variation and most hits, regardless of how hard, sound the same.Online - 7.5*EA has, for the umpteenth time, released a video game with mode-crippling bugs & issues still prevalent. We have been forced to abandon multiple Online Dynasties due to freezing that has prevented us from advancing. The first few nights also saw us literally waiting in line to upload our dynasty information to the server. EA has acknowledged the issue and confirmed they are working on fixing it. The hours spent during which we were actually able to play the online dynasty were enjoyable; importing a created team and duking it out with your friend and his/her created team is a load of fun, as is battling against each other and cpu-controlled teams for prospects. Being able to create & save up to five highlights per game for your friends to see is also a nice touch. There was noticeable lag (mainly during kickoffs, punts, and field goals) but it varied from game to game. The Online Dynasty is infinitely more intriguing than the Madden counterpart, which EA recently confirmed has not been touched in Madden 12 and will still lack trade & free-agent logic. If the sole reason for buying either one is to play in an online dynasty with your buddies than you may want to pick up NCAA 12. Outside of Online Dynasty you can also play both ranked and unranked matches against other members of the online community. Final Score: 8.5*Please note that this score was given during a time when the developer acknowledged they were at work on correcting some of the issues with the online play modes. This score may be revisited and changed accordingly once all issues have been ironed out.